Two Men Charged After Allegedly Trying to Smuggle Party Drugs onto Gay Cruise

A week-long Atlantis party cruise that set out from Florida on Feb. 3 left without two passengers: A pair of government contractors who had hatched a plan to sell Molly, Special K, and GBH to shipboard revelers, reported UK newspaper the Daily Mail.

35-year-old Peter Melendez and 27-year-old Robert Koehler didn't make it on board the cruise ship, which was set to depart for the Bahamas and Mexico, because their plans were outlined in an email sent from a computer provided to Melendez by the U.S. government. A Homeland Security agent got wind of their plans, news channel Local 10 reported, and a police dog sniffed out the contraband, which was present in luggage belonging to both men.

In addition to MDMA (also known as Molly or Ecstasy), GHB (also known as a "date rape" drug), and Ketamine (which is used as an anesthesia but can also have psychoactive effects), two pharmaceuticals typically only available by prescription, Adderall and Viagra, were also among the men's belongings, Local 10 reported.

Homeland Security had alerted Miami-Dade police officers as to the men, local newspaper the Miami Herald reported. Arrest reports indicate that Homeland Security had let the police know that the two intended "to smuggle the narcotics onto the ship and distribute it once on board," the Miami Herald article said.

Reports did not specify for which companies or government departments the men worked. The two confessed when questioned by authorities, media reports said.

Kilian Melloy serves as EDGE Media Network's Assistant Arts Editor. He also reviews theater for WBUR. His professional memberships include the National Lesbian & Gay Journalists Association, the Boston Online Film Critics Association, The Gay and Lesbian Entertainment Critics Association, and the Boston Theater Critics Association's Elliot Norton Awards Committee.